


Hierarchy

by Lepidopteran (lepi)



Series: Earn Your Way Back [7]
Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-30
Updated: 2015-03-30
Packaged: 2018-03-20 11:52:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3649329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lepi/pseuds/Lepidopteran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elita-One returns to Cybertron to find that Ultra Magnus is uncomfortable with running a government.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hierarchy

Elita-One didn't know what she'd been expecting when her small ship touched down on Cybertron. It wouldn't be logical to expect a miracle, except that was the only way to describe what had happened. A small part of her processor had expected to see everything restored to glittering Golden Age form, magnificent spires of gleaming metal rising out of the ground and energon lighting the planet with a lush blue glow as it rushed through the pipes.

"It looks so… bleak," Moonracer murmured as they touched down. This wasn't the crumbling, dead Cybertron they'd left, but neither was it familiar. It sprawled, alien and empty. The metal shone with life, but all the structures remained in ruins. None of the color that Elita-One remembered shone through. No paint, no energon, no tinted glass, only bare metal. Elita-One held up a hand for silence as they landed.

Ultra Magnus met her with Arcee at his side, and Elita-One nodded to them both. "Elita-One and crew reporting in," she said. "I have Moonracer, Chromia, Firestar, Flareup, Lancer, and Greenlight."

Ultra Magnus nodded back. "You've done well keeping so many alive," he said.

Elita-One let a small smile flicker across her face. "It wasn't all my doing. After the message went out to return to Cybertron, I picked up Chromia's signal, and Firestar and Flareup joined us from where they'd been stranded in the next sector over. Speaking of which, Firestar is in critical condition; she needs a real medic as soon as possible."

"And she will have one," Ultra Magnus said, but he grimaced. "Though I should warn you that our only trained medic right now is a former 'Con."

Elita-One echoed that grimace. "How former?" she asked. "Is he trustworthy?"

"He'll keep her alive until we get Ratchet here." Ultra Magnus nodded to Arcee, who stepped off to the side and talked quietly into her comm system. "And there will be someone monitoring him at all times. I doube he'll do anything to jeopardize his position here."

"Flareup will stay with her as well," Elita-One said. Poor Flareup would probably have a meltdown if she left her mentor with a 'Con. "She knows the most about Firestar's condition, anyway; she's been the one keeping her alive all this time. Not that I don't trust your officers, Ultra Magnus."

Ultra Magnus inclined his head. "Understood." They both looked at Arcee, who nodded and continued talking. "You and your crew should be informed that there is no Prime here. Optimus Prime sacrificed himself and the Matrix of Leadership to restore the Well of All Sparks and the hot spots. The age of Primes is past."

Elita-One's processor froze for a moment before it began working overtime, calculations spinning out into a web of possibilities. "No Prime," she said, and that would be a story, given that she'd heard Optimus' voice on the callback message. "You have assumed temporary command, then, sir?"

"I am no civilian leader," Ultra Magnus said, shaking his head. "I have had this proven to me." At his side, the fingers of a crude claw weld curled and uncurled in an unconscious movement that betrayed more than he might have liked. "Perhaps we should talk about this in private… sir."

Elita-One's optics whirred, widening, then narrowing. Oh, no. Ultra Magnus wasn't about to foist off command of an entire planet to her alone, without warning, just as she arrived. Not without some explanations about just what had happened here and what problems she was going to inherit, however temporarily. "In private," she agreed. "Arcee, would you show my crew where they can refuel and clean up?"

"Of course, sir." Arcee moved towards Chromia, and Elita-One let herself watch for a moment. Good instincts, that one, especially since Chromia was a new addition; most bots would have gone to Greenlight, who'd been Elita-One's second by necessity but didn't have the slightest interest in command. "Come on, I'll show you where we've set up the oil bath. I'm afraid we don't have habitation suites built yet, since Bulkhead's priority is to get at least one city functioning but there are plenty of recharge slabs."

Chromia smiled and inclined her head. "Whatever you can offer is welcome," she said. "Not even those on Elita-One's ship had access to much beyond cramped living space, by the end." Chromia's optics caught Elita-One's, and Elita-One sent a brief affirmative ping; this was still a mission. Satisfied by the promise of a full report later, Elita-One turned her attention back to Ultra Magnus.

"Now, then," she said. "Lead the way, and you can explain to me just what it is you want taken off your hands."


End file.
